Rollei 35 - meter dead?

[erick]

I picked up a Rollei 35 at a local antiques shop last weekend for 5 Euro. Everything appears to be functional except the meter. I have removed the original battery and cleaned the contacts as good as possible. After inserting a new battery I can see the meter needle move a little bit, to just about the edge of the orange section on the left hand side. However the meter does not respond to varying light levels. I have tried different batteries, even an external AA battery with some wires attached and a voltage reading of exactly 1.35V.

I was just wondering if anyone has seen this behaviour before and what the cause might be? There is a dent in the camera housing, right next to the light sensor so maybe it died at the time it was dropped!

Any advice would be much appreciated. Kind regards Erick.

[ghostdog]

It happened to me as well. Out of despair, I left the camera 24 hours with the new battery ... the lightmeter started to work. So, try to be patient (if the needle move there's hope).

[erick]

Hey Ghostdog, I tried your suggestion but unfortunately the needle was in the exact same position after 12 hours as when I installed the battery. Interestingly, when I put the battery back into the camera it came from it turned out to be drained. This suggests that there may be an internal short circuit which would explain both draining the battery and the needle not moving (since the battery voltage would drop after installing it).

I am now looking to open up the top section of the camera to look for anything untoward. I have removed all the screws, the sprocket release lever and the film advance lever, but can't get the top off since it is still caught on the little shaft for the lever that releases the little sprocket wheel. Any suggestions?
Thanks again, Erick.

[ghostdog]

I didn't have to open mine so can't help but here is what Google found:

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/forum/m ... /2670.html

[erick]